British Takeaway Campaign responds to Immigration White Paper

In response to the Government’s Immigration White Paper, Chair of the British Takeaway Campaign, Ibrahim Dogus, said:

“The Government’s decision to treat EU and non-EU citizens the same in the post-Brexit migration system is right – our restaurants need talented chefs working within specialist cuisines from across the globe.

“However, the insistence on suggesting skills in the takeaway and hospitality sector are 'low' and using salary as a crude measure to decide how important they are is deeply disappointing and will have a huge impact on our sector.

“On the one hand the introduction of the Catering and Hospitality T Level qualification by the Department for Education to ensure we have the skills needed domestically is essential, but all that work will be undermined by the way the Government talks about those exact same skills in relation to immigration. How can we attract young people to our businesses if the Government believes they are of no value?

“We need a consistent approach throughout Government – especially when some skills can only be sourced from regions across the globe that have specialisms in particular cuisines.

“That’s why we are calling for takeaway restaurants to be offered a sectoral exemption within the Government’s proposed immigration rules, and for a transition period that gives sufficient time to allow for the training of domestic workers. We’re also calling for the revision of the Shortage Occupation List to revoke the arbitrary ‘takeaway clause’ that states specialist chefs are only allowed to work in restaurants which do not have a takeaway function.

“Given that 61% of takeaways already state they are having difficulty recruiting the staff they need, these measures will be vital to secure the future of our sector which supports more than 231,000 jobs and contributes £4.5bn to the economy each year.”

Notes to Editors:

The British Takeaway Campaign (BTC) is an umbrella group, championing those involved in the supply and preparation of takeaway food. The group brings together organisations representing the breadth of the industry, from curry and kebab houses to fish and chip shops, Chinese restaurants and pizzerias.

According to independent research by the BTC, the takeaway sector supports 231,000 jobs and takeaways themselves directly contributed £4.5bn in gross value added (GVA) contributions to UK GDP in 2016, rising to £9.4 billion when factoring in the multiplier effect of supply-chain and employee spending – equivalent to 0.5% of GDP.

The BTC’s members are:

Just Eat

British Kebab Awards

Foodservice Packaging Association

K10 Restaurants

Curry Life Magazine

QuickBite Magazine

Night Time Industries Association

UK Bangladesh Catalysts of Commerce & Industry

National Federation of Fish Friers

Bangladesh Caterers Association

Nationwide Caterers Association

SeeWoo UK

Catering Equipment Suppliers Association

Westmill Foods

UKHospitality

The BTC also works in collaboration with the Pizza, Pasta and Italian Food Association.

Find more information about the BTC on the website and follow GB_Takeaway on Twitter.

Images of Ibrahim Dogus, the BTC and the takeaway sector available on request.

Media enquiries:

For media queries or to request an interview, please contact Joe Carton at Newington Communications on 07707693449, or at btc@newingtoncomms.co.uk